Tag Archives: microRNA

Asthma is a common chronic disease consisting of constriction and inflammation of the airways as well as structural changes known as remodelling (Fig. 1). 5-10% of patients have severe asthma, whereby symptoms persist despite regular and correct

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that damages motor neurons. As the disease progresses, patients gradually loose exercise capacity. Finally, they die due to the lack of breathability. No effective therapy was found for ALS

Micro-RNA (miRNAs or miRs) are small noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate protein coding gene transcripts and exert an important role in the control of gene expression. miRs are deregulated in many tumors and play an active role

The thyroid gland is a small butterfly-shaped endocrine organ located at the base of the throat, just below the Adam´s apple. Its function is to concentrate dietary iodine from the bloodstream and produce thyroid hormones, which have

Calcific Aortic Valve Disease (CAVD) resulting in aortic stenosis is a common heart disease that affects 25% of people over 65 years old, causing 17,000 deaths per year in the USA. The aortic valve regulates blood flow

Darwinian evolution is considered to be the way that life adapts in every possible environment in Earth. The great evolutionary biologist of the past century Theodosius Dobzansky used to say: “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in

Oncogenic miRNA and breast cancer Since the early 2000’s, the field of RNA has been contributing to major discoveries in cancer research. McroRNAs are small RNA molecules (miRNA), inhibit the messenger RNAs that produce our proteins. Normally,

Choosing the optimal anticancer treatment for each patient requires proper disease staging. Staging is usually assessed according to the TNM system: tumour size (T), number of nearby lymph nodes affected (N), and metastasis, or spread to other

Plant-parasitic nematodes are small roundworms that predominantly feed on roots and cause crop yield losses. The root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita is among the most damaging pests of several crops including cotton, tomato, and soybean. The infective stage

Patients with diabetes are frequently afflicted with impaired wound healing that may progress into chronic, diabetic ulcers, often leading to complications including limb amputation with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. These ulcers occur not only in

Non – protein – coding regions of the genome are widely transcribed to produce non – coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which play a crucial role in various biological processes and diseases. Recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have

The ability to properly engage the different arms of the immune response is essential for protection from pathogens but also for preventing autoimmune reactions against normal tissue. Central to autoimmune prevention are a class of white blood

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is thought to be caused by aberrant immune response to host intestinal microbiota, leading inflammation in gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms such as diarrhea, rectal bleeding, anemia,

Hypertension is a common but one of the most important health problems, because it is a major risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases. Hypertension is a multi-factorial disease involving complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. To treat